Earlier this week someone asked if we could have an option to post anonymously so they could avoid making a throwaway. Especially with the influx of Redditors and their more common use of throwaways, I wanted to create a way to avoid the sudden creation of a bunch of dummy accounts that just take up network time and server space.

So I created a community throwaway. It's kind of an experiment. I don't know if anyone would want to use it, but it is now available.

I've been on Hubski for a while now. I joined because it was started by a friend(s) of mine. Before that, I had never used a social aggregator before. I have never used Reddit, so I'm unfamiliar with the culture there. I can't think of a reason that someone would want to post anonymously. With absolutely no snark intended, I'm curious why this is a desired feature. It feels a bit slippery to me.

querx hit it on the head. It's the internet. We're all throwaways. But Hubski has the ability to make you feel like you have a reputation, and that your reputation can be tarnished by saying something that may need to be said, but that you aren't comfortable associating your name with.

Adding in the twist of giving the reigns on a single throwaway account is very unique, because literally anyone can put on the same mask. It's exciting!

And either way, I've never been one to shy away from an experiment that might fail. Have you seen my poetry? Some of it is awful. But sometimes it makes something happen inside of people. So who cares about the experimental failures. Without them no one would experience the good ones.

My only criticism of it would be in some heated debate scenario. Where a conversation started really ugly, but eventually became a teaching moment (as much as I hate that phrase). A lot of respect could potentially be earned by the people for resolving their differences. A throwaway could make this less achievable as people gravitate to it for protection. Then again, if the catalyst for such a conversation can only be garnered through the throwaway in the first place - it could be a good addition.

I'm all for an experiment though and love the idea that it is one shared mask.

I believe that if people are mature enough to resolve their differences through reasoned discussion that they are not the type of people who would resort to an anonymous bashing through a shadowy account.

However, just today I had a discussion with someone who was not anonymous who I think is very rude and does not do their own arguments justice due to the way in which they present them. Anonymity does not guarantee venom, nor does reputation always prevent it.

Just speaking from reddit experience, the Ask Reddit sub there tended to wade into controversial waters. Sometimes people felt the burning urge to answer one of those questions like "Have you ever cheated on your ex" "Have you ever hired a prostitute" or "What have you done at work that should've gotten you fired" as a catharsis, or a need to get it off their chest, or just to brag and in those cases I think the throwaway just felt like an added layer of protection. Truth be it told I'd lived in my reddit account for long enough that if you looked through my post history and were determined and bored enough you probably could've found me other places online or my friends or family could've recognized me if they knew who they were looking for. The most scandalous thing they probably would've learned would have been terribly bland but some people have more exciting lives that they want to share and if those details made it back to them then there could be ugly repercussions.

An interesting idea but as I see the thing, my feed would contain nearly all tags as nearly all active Hubskiers (I hope I typed it right), who wrote recent posts know for this throwaway. So following would be worth as an experiment, but probably create a clone of global. But hey, I'm open for experiments!

Someone requesting that exact feature was the inspiration for this solution. It was a request for an option to have a checkbox-ish solution for anonymous posting, which I thought was a pretty good idea. And it was supposed to be a way to avoid creating a bunch of one-off throwaways, but it would involve the site deciding as a whole that they wanted that ability. That's why I created ThrowMeAway1, so that we could just have a shared profile. And it's also equally interesting that you may be able to follow the throwaway as a profile in itself.

I know there's a demand for anonymous posting. It was requested in the first place, and ThrowMeAway1 was used instantly. But it has to be balanced with the identity of hubski as well especially with the large amount of fair-weather users that are only here as part of a temporary surge from Reddit. No offense to them, but many won't stay, but they do affect the site while they are here.